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Such a Lovely Place, Such a Lovely Face

Friday, August 16, 2019

Illustration by Mary Jane Pajaron

Illustration by Valeria Lutfullina

One of the strengths of the games set in the Age of Lost Omens is the diversity of setting. From classic staples like dragonslaying and piracy to outlandish adventures fighting robot scorpions in a rugged wasteland, no matter what genre of game you want to play, you can likely find a spot on Golarion to suit your interest. With that diversity of setting comes a diversity of people. Every nation has its own vibrant cultures, traditions, and ethnicities—not just among humanity, but among all of the ancestries found within the Inner Sea region. In Golarion, the home of the shattered clans of the Five Kings Mountains, the tunnel-dwelling Kulnett of Geb, the dragon-worshiping Mwangi tribes of the Mbe'ke and the Taralu, and the completely subterranean grondaksen, there's no such thing as playing "just" a dwarf.

Illustration by Valeria Lutfullina

At least, that's always been the theory. In practice, many of these disparate cultures haven't gotten the setting support they deserved. That's why when we set out to decide on the topic for the second of our new World Guides, Luis Loza quickly suggested a book that outlined the people of Golarion, especially those not well-covered in the Core Rulebook. In the Lost Omens Character Guide, we provide the information and mechanics to allow our players to create character concepts from all over the world. Just as importantly, we also sought to provide a more focused vision of what these people looked like!

The Lost Omens Character Guide makes heavy use of a rules concept introduced to the Rarity system in the Lost Omens World Guide: Access. Many of the ancestry feats in this book have a specific basis in the distinct traditions of various cultures and ethnicities, and as such, are listed as Uncommon rules options. The Access entry on these feats lists the criteria that allow a character to gain automatic access to a rules element. For example, the Erutaki people have a tradition of creating magical scrimshaw constructs; an Erutaki PC that meets the prerequisites can gain immediate access to the feat that represents that ability below, while another PC would have to learn the skill from an Erutaki carver or otherwise gain GM permission to take the feat.

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That's not to say there aren't a few ancestry feats that are entirely dependent on heritage. For example, those of Nidalese ancestry can find the blessings of Zon-Kuthon manifesting as they grow stronger, granting the ability to see in darkness and other shadowy powers. Since these feats come as a direct result of Zon-Kuthon's pact with the people of Nidal, only Nidalese characters can take them—while a PC could try to gain access to such feats by seeking out Zon-Kuthon himself, as the three Kellid horselords that founded Nidal once did, such a bargain would likely have far more dramatic results than a few extra human ancestry feats.

Illustrations by Katerina Kirillova

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Inside the Lost Omens Character Guide, you'll find more heritages and ancestry feats for each of the Core ancestries that help to support a variety of ethnicities, both new and old. For instance, we've mentioned the mountain-dwelling Mbe'ke tribe of dwarves that live in the Mwangi Expanse in passing—we've now provided a new dwarven heritage to grant those dwarves an affinity with the dragons that they worship, but can also be used to represent dwarves with a connection to azers, the fiery god Angradd, or other elemental forces!

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Illustration by Rogier van de Beek

In addition to new ethnicities, the Lost Omens Character Guide offers a more detailed look at some familiar cultures within the setting. For instance, inside this book lies the true name of the Snowcaster elves, as well as a number of secrets about their true origins. Of course, this knowledge only raises more questions, such as whether the events that created the modern-day culture of the Snowcasters are also connected to a peculiar oddity of the elven goddess Findeladlara. As an aside, the Snowcasters have always had a distinct look, but when ordering art for the Lost Omens Character Guide, I asked for a specific addition to their silhouette—a pair of antler-like blades that the elves can quickly combine with other gear to transform into skis or a sled. These allow the Snowcasters to move rapidly over snow and ice, and also makes them somewhat intimidating at a distance, which might explain why many outsiders claim Snowcaster elves are demon-worshipping cannibals.

To those of you who love multiclassing, there is also a new elven heritage available to any elf of a certain age that might be of interest:

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But wait, there's more!

Illustration by Klaher Baklaher

With gnomes, we're taking the opportunity to emphasize that not all ancestries view ethnicity in the same way as humans do. Gnomes especially tend to possess a riot of unusual hair, eye, and skin colors that can often seem disconnected from genetics entirely. When gnomes speak of their ethnicities, they are usually referring to a natural affinity toward different kinds of magic that a gnome might possess—due to their souls' abrupt disconnect from their ancestral home in the First World, gnomes are more affected by nearby sources of magic when they are growing up. For example, gnomes who grow up near sources of divine power have more affinity with magic that changes reality or creates figments, while the unsettling fell gnomes have a stronger connection to occult magic or dark fey.

While goblins often receive little distinction from adventurers beyond what color splatter they leave behind, the recent slowing of humanoid/goblin aggressions has allowed the differences between goblin cultures to become better understood. The forest goblins of the Chitterwood lived through the Goblinblood Wars (more accurately, many of them did not live), which has given them a different approach to life when compared to the wilder goblins of Varisia. A relatively quick goblin lifespan and a traditional worship of Lamashtu means that goblins can also adapt to new environments very quickly, leading to some startling physiological differences between certain goblin ethnicities. The frost goblins of the north have blue skin and occasionally blue fur, but the most striking ethnicity of goblin is likely the monkey goblin, which possesses a long tail! A heritage for monkey goblins is provided for those who wish to play these unusual offshoots:

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Illustration by Emile Denis

Finally, we have halfling ethnicities, including a number of new cultural groups that don't simply copy the traditions of the taller humans around them. I'll leave most of them for those who pick up the book, but I'd be remiss not to mention Luis Loza's favorite of the bunch: the Othoban halflings, who he fondly refers to as "Time Halflings." What are time halflings? The answer involves the city of Xin-Edasseril and the events of the Return of the Runelords adventure path—after all, you didn't think there were only humans in that city, did you?

Tune in next week when we'll be here to talk about some of the new ancestries that will be appearing in the Lost Omens Character Guide!

I'm just going to come right out and say that "incredibly long lifespan" is one of those things the "you can’t select a heritage that depends on or improves an elven feature you don’t have" clause in Elf Atavism, since Half-Elves lack an elf's ability to live that long.

Still, if you want to get all the free multiclassing, the Ancient Elf + Adopted Ancestry (Human) + Multitalented seems to work. Makes for an odd story though- I was adopted by humans.... two hundred years ago. Could be a super-fun character to RP, since your upbringing leads you to believe that you "understand the ways of humans" but all of your assumptions are ridiculously old-fashioned.

Ok, this is looking pretty awesome. It's long been a bit of an annoyance that only humans seem to have any real cultural/ethnic divisions while non-humans tended to be mono-cultures (well with the exception of elves in previous editions of D&D, where they were always sub-races with their own stat-blocks. Creating elf sub-races seems to be a common game designer hobby). This is common across fiction, how often do you see an alien species in sci-fi with more than one language and culture? Almost never. So this is certainly welcome. It's also good for representation. We've got non-white dwarves now. Awesome. The art is also great.

I'm also liking the rarity gating. There were issues with feats and other options with cultural connections to certain region were taken solely for mechanical benefit. This should help curb the tendency to use options intended to spice up a culture as a power grab-bag.

I think that a book like this could very well become a series. You're clearly not going to be able to cover everything in a single book. And when new ancestries are introduced, they won't have the benefit of this kind of regional treatment. So later installments could fill that in.

Ok, this is looking pretty awesome. It's long been a bit of an annoyance that only humans seem to have any real cultural/ethnic divisions while non-humans tended to be mono-cultures (well with the exception of elves in previous editions of D&D, where they were always sub-races with their own stat-blocks. Creating elf sub-races seems to be a common game designer hobby). This is common across fiction, how often do you see an alien species in sci-fi with more than one language and culture? Almost never. So this is certainly welcome. It's also good for representation. We've got non-white dwarves now. Awesome. The art is also great.

To be fair, we've been doing this all along, for the most part. Many of these nonhuman ethnicities have existed for a while, but they've been sprinkled around here and there over the course of more than a decade. This was a great chance to gather everyone together in one place right at the start, while at the same time giving the same attention to other ancestries that didn't get that specific attention.

I'm super excited for people to get this book in their hands and at their tables! Luis and Eleanor and the rest of the creative department crew kicked ass on this book and it shows!

Shame the book doesn't come out until October (I think?) since the character I want to play in Age of Ashes is 100% a Fell Gnome. I don't even know what it does yet (it could do nothing for all it matters) I just know they're a Fell Gnome.

Hey, this rules? Diverse art, love shown to more obscure parts of the setting, non-humans with a ton of variety, evocative stuff for players that hooks right into the setting... I'm in love with the Lost Omens line so far.

Any chance some Tian or Arcadian humans snuck into the book? I have a Razatlani Sorcerer/Monk I'm DYING to play.

Hey, this rules? Diverse art, love shown to more obscure parts of the setting, non-humans with a ton of variety, evocative stuff for players that hooks right into the setting... I'm in love with the Lost Omens line so far.

Any chance some Tian or Arcadian humans snuck into the book? I have a Razatlani Sorcerer/Monk I'm DYING to play.

Well, one of the pics is labelled "tian-sing" which implies the book might feature pics for all tian ethnicities from 1e :D Which is nice since they never got illustrated, just described

(of course maybe its more realistic to think it might illustrate only some of them, since there are lot of ethnicities and I doubt this book will have all of Golarion's human etchnities while also expanding on non human races)

This is great - Golarion's cultural and ethnic diversity has always been one of its strongest selling points, so anything emphasizing these characteristics can only be very well-received. I know I am dying to read all the details about all the various ethnicities, that's for sure. And finally having all the different kinds of dwarves, halflings, elves etc in a single book... we sorely needed this baby, guys. I, for one, welcome our new monkey goblin overlords.

To be fair, we've been doing this all along, for the most part. Many of these nonhuman ethnicities have existed for a while, but they've been sprinkled around here and there over the course of more than a decade. This was a great chance to gather everyone together in one place right at the start, while at the same time giving the same attention to other ancestries that didn't get that specific attention.

That's true. I didn't mean to dump on you guys too hard. I was more thinking of the whole D&D lineage and other fiction with non-human races. You have at least mentioned these other groups, they just didn't get a whole lot of coverage. But now it looks like they're really getting a chance to shine.

PossibleCabbage wrote:

Shame the book doesn't come out until October (I think?) since the character I want to play in Age of Ashes is 100% a Fell Gnome. I don't even know what it does yet (it could do nothing for all it matters) I just know they're a Fell Gnome.

There was a Fell Gnome heritage in the playtest, so it might be similar to that one. At the very least you could maybe use that until the book comes out with the final version.

Playtest Update Document wrote:

Unlike most gnomes, you have a connection to some of the darker fey, such as gremlins and redcaps. You can cast chill touch as an innate primal spell at will. The cantrip is heightened to a spell level equal to half your level rounded up.

So there you go. Related to nasty fey, and gives chill touch. I think the final heritages give a little more than the playtest versions, so it might be a bit more than that. Alternately they could decide to go a different direction.

Roswynn wrote:

I, for one, welcome our new monkey goblin overlords.

I think you mean monkey goblin pirate overlords. Bit to revive an old meme, they'll probably have to contend with ninja goblins (because they must exist) for overlord status.

And because I'm a sophisticated adult with mature tastes, I kind of want monkey goblins to have some poo flinging ability. I'm just classy that way.

I'm just going to come right out and say that "incredibly long lifespan" is one of those things the "you can’t select a heritage that depends on or improves an elven feature you don’t have" clause in Elf Atavism, since Half-Elves lack an elf's ability to live that long.

Still, if you want to get all the free multiclassing, the Ancient Elf + Adopted Ancestry (Human) + Multitalented seems to work. Makes for an odd story though- I was adopted by humans.... two hundred years ago. Could be a super-fun character to RP, since your upbringing leads you to believe that you "understand the ways of humans" but all of your assumptions are ridiculously old-fashioned.

I personally do not think short-lived races should have access to Ancestral Longevity if they take the Adopted Ancestry feat.

Most everything in this blog is cool and exciting, but I'm deeply concerned by Ancient Elf. It's way better than every other heritage in the game, will continue to get better as more classes are published, and functions as an ancestry-exclusive patch job to one of my deepest problems with the system (namely, that the new multiclassing did nothing to fix the fact that hybrid concepts are level locked by the existence of multiclassing).

Paizo is going to see a sudden uptick in the number of elf players and frankly I'm not happy about it.

How so? It lets you have a Multiclass Dedication at first in place of other Heritages, but it only moves the level requirement, not anything else.

It’s good, for those who want to multiclass, but I don’t see it as a must have.

If you don't see how making it so the dedication feat doesn't eat your 2nd level class feat isn't more powerful than every other option than I don't know how to explain it to you. Every multiclass character would be best built as an Elf now, and that's a serious problem.

How so? It lets you have a Multiclass Dedication at first in place of other Heritages, but it only moves the level requirement, not anything else.

It’s good, for those who want to multiclass, but I don’t see it as a must have.

Multiclass Archetype Dedications are pretty universally better than any existing Heritage. By a lot.

Humans have a Heritage to gain one Skill, which will eventually upgrade to Expert. Elves have a Heritage to get a single cantrip. With Wizard Dedication, I get a Skill and two cantrips I can change every day. It's better than those other two Heritages put together.

So one thing I plan on doing that will keep down the number of geriatric elves in my games, which touches on topics discussed on PF Fridays and Arcane Mark recently is to be fairly generous when giving out free dedication feats as rewards when it makes narrative sense to do so.

PF Friday discussed a variant in the upcoming GMG for "what if everybody's a pirate, and you just give them the dedication for free" as something that's like an official variant, and on the "Rewards" episode of AM it was discussed that if you give people extra feats it's really not going to break the game (except for a huge excess of skill feats).

I personally feel like the feats which are least likely to break the game if I give them out it's "the dedication feat" since it generally doesn't do a whole lot, its primary value is the other things it unlocks. I especially like the idea in a situation where a "training" or "membership in an organization" makes much more narrative sense than "we're going to give you items of notable monetary value". Like the Hermit you helped out of a jam probably doesn't have magic runes to give you, but he knows how to make snares and is willing to teach you.

How so? It lets you have a Multiclass Dedication at first in place of other Heritages, but it only moves the level requirement, not anything else.

It’s good, for those who want to multiclass, but I don’t see it as a must have.

Multiclass Archetype Dedications are pretty universally better than any existing Heritage. By a lot.

Humans have a Heritage to gain one Skill, which will eventually upgrade to Expert. Elves have a Heritage to get a single cantrip. With Wizard Dedication, I get a Skill and two cantrips I can change every day. It's better than those other two Heritages put together.

He says while talking about a Heritage that isn't even out yet. Sorry couldn't resist.

The way I see it, you're trading your Heritage for a Class Feat that gets spent on a Dedication at 1st level. Taking other Heritages doesn't prevent you from taking Dedications as well.

So good (if you're wanting to play an ancient elf that Multiclasses) but not overpowered to the point of shoving other options away, I'm not getting a "Humans get a bonus feat" vibe from it that was prevalent in 1e.... plus we don't know what all other Heritages are in the books... and then we get Aasimar and Tiefling Heritages in the APG...

How so? It lets you have a Multiclass Dedication at first in place of other Heritages, but it only moves the level requirement, not anything else.

It’s good, for those who want to multiclass, but I don’t see it as a must have.

If you don't see how making it so the dedication feat doesn't eat your 2nd level class feat isn't more powerful than every other option than I don't know how to explain it to you. Every multiclass character would be best built as an Elf now, and that's a serious problem.

What ancestry my character is is just as, if not more important to character creation to me than class.

How so? It lets you have a Multiclass Dedication at first in place of other Heritages, but it only moves the level requirement, not anything else.

It’s good, for those who want to multiclass, but I don’t see it as a must have.

If you don't see how making it so the dedication feat doesn't eat your 2nd level class feat isn't more powerful than every other option than I don't know how to explain it to you. Every multiclass character would be best built as an Elf now, and that's a serious problem.

What ancestry my character is is just as, if not more important to character creation to me than class.

Plus not all characters are gonna multiclass.

I'm going to agree with Rysky here. It let's you get the Dedication Feat at 1st level instead of second. For overall class feats, that's the same as the Human taking Natural Ambition. You have to be 4th before you get your second Multiclass Feat. So the net result isn't overly significant.

How so? It lets you have a Multiclass Dedication at first in place of other Heritages, but it only moves the level requirement, not anything else.

It’s good, for those who want to multiclass, but I don’t see it as a must have.

If you don't see how making it so the dedication feat doesn't eat your 2nd level class feat isn't more powerful than every other option than I don't know how to explain it to you. Every multiclass character would be best built as an Elf now, and that's a serious problem.

What ancestry my character is is just as, if not more important to character creation to me than class.

Yeah, that's why this pisses me off. I don't want to play an elf, frankly I hate elves, but now they're suddenly way better than any other ancestry if I want to play a Fighter/Wizard. If I wanted to do this as a half-orc then I'd be stuck giving up my choice of the many excellent 2nd level Fighter feats for a couple cantrips. If I were inclined to play elves then I'd be getting the same benefit for... practically zero cost. Like DMW said, getting a caster dedication for free is an objective and obvious upgrade against many of the currently existing heritages. Fey-Touched Gnomes went from pretty good to pretty bad the moment someone more inclined to play an Elf got the ability to get twice as many cantrips and a skill training on top for exactly the same cost.

You can plug your ears and close your eyes to it all you like but that really does not change that Ancient Elf is a clearly better choice than any other heritage for any character that wants to multiclass.

PossibleCabbage wrote:

So one thing I plan on doing that will keep down the number of geriatric elves in my games, which touches on topics discussed on PF Fridays and Arcane Mark recently is to be fairly generous when giving out free dedication feats as rewards when it makes narrative sense to do so.

PF Friday discussed a variant in the upcoming GMG for "what if everybody's a pirate, and you just give them the dedication for free" as something that's like an official variant, and on the "Rewards" episode of AM it was discussed that if you give people extra feats it's really not going to break the game (except for a huge excess of skill feats).

I personally feel like the feats which are least likely to break the game if I give them out it's "the dedication feat" since it generally doesn't do a whole lot, its primary value is the other things it unlocks. I especially like the idea in a situation where a "training" or "membership in an organization" makes much more narrative sense than "we're going to give you items of notable monetary value". Like the Hermit you helped out of a jam probably doesn't have magic runes to give you, but he knows how to make snares and is willing to teach you.

GM gifts cannot be relied upon for initial character concept. Are you really going to give somebody the Wizard dedication because they told you before the game started that their character was a martially inclined arcane caster?

Oh, and for the record - Natural Ambition shouldn't exist either. If you like you can go back to my posts during the playtest and find me advocating for that. But it has more of a cost to it than Ancient Elf, at least.